Apex Legends: Hunted had all the usual updates when it comes to a new season, and Respawn Entertainment did a decent job covering upcoming features, but that doesn't mean there weren't surprises.

We already did a full breakdown of the whole patch notes covering every aspect, but there were some unplanned changes. Here are three changes that surprised us the most in the Apex Legends: Hunted patch notes.

3 Surprising Changes in the Apex Legends: Hunted Patch Notes

Arc Star

• Reduced stick damage on armor to 10 from 40.
• Remove aim slow on stick, remains on detonation.
• Detonation damage increased to 75 from 70.

The Arc Star didn't seem like it needed to see this type of change, but Respawn must have noticed the overwhelming majority of players use the Arc Star over every other throwable. In the new season, when you actually stick an opponent it will do less damage as a whole, but the detonation damage was slightly increased, meaning the radius is more important than the actual stick. As for the slow, players will have an aim slow which is expected but only during the detonation. When you're stuck, you'll be at full speed until it detonates, giving you a bit more time to react before the slow takes effect.

Newcastle Buffs

Retrieve the Wounded:

• Increased move speed during revive by 25%.
• Reduced turn slow while reviving by 50%.
• Increased White Knockdown shield health from 150 -> 200.
• Increase Blue Knockdown shield health from 250 -> 300.

Mobile Shield:

• Increased hp from 350 -> 500
• Doubled max movement speed.

Castle Wall:

• Added turn slow to electrical barrier effects and increased the severity of the slow effect to movement.

Not unexpected, but still surprising how much his kit was buffed. The Retrieve the Wounded works a bit better, allowing you to pull your teammates away from danger faster and turn in different directions faster. The buff to both the white and blue knockdown shield should help early fights even more until you can find better knockdown shields.

The personal mobile shield was too easy to tear down, so the HP buff should really help and the max movement speed helps Newcastle mains to move forward and the shield can keep up. The Castle Wall still needs some work and the "slow effect" doesn't help enough as it's easy to flank the position or bombard it with throwables. Some type of damage buff like Rampart might do the trick.

Ring Adjustments

• Ring 1 Damage increase from 2 to 3 hp/tick (equivalent to Ring 2)
• Ring 1 Preshrink Time decreased from 180s to 60s.

Ring 1 Closing Time:

• Kings Canyon - 4:10 -> 4:32
• World’s Edge - 3:42 -> 4:32
• Storm Point - 4:15 -> 4:35
• Olympus - 4:10 -> 4:32

Another tuning point not many saw coming. Respawn tweaked the first Ring, forcing players to rotate faster, and hopefully speed up game times. All closing times as a whole increased in the first ring, but that's because the preshrink warning times were drastically decreased as well as the damage was increased. The first ring will hurt just as much as the second ring, meaning the first two rings do the same amount of damage.

Players can no longer "tank" the first ring to finish looting or rotating as it will cost a heavy amount of consumables. This should force outer squads to move faster and games to end sooner.

This article was originally published on dbltap as 3 Surprising Changes in the Apex Legends: Hunted Patch Notes.